Although Metro Police plan to hire hundreds of new officers in the coming months, the Clark County School District won’t be getting any of the officers being paid for by the More Cops Tax.

The school district police department could use some help keeping the more than 320,000 students safe who are attending 356 valley campuses.

“Across the country crime is increasing and we are experiencing that as well,” said CCSD Police Capt. Ken Young.

According to Young, already this year, school police have confiscated 22 firearms which is nearly double the amount of guns recovered the entire previous school year.

Under its current budget, CCSD Police can have up to 161 officers on board. Currently, there are 157. The department is looking to hire some officers with experience.

“We can hire a lateral officer now who doesn’t have to go through training. He’s already trained,” Capt. Young said.

The department is also anticipating retirements which will open up additional opportunities. This comes at a time when new schools are set to open this fall and the student population continues to grow. What isn’t growing, is the budget.

“So we use to have automatic growth every time there was a new high school, there would be additional officers, you know, through budget changes and budget concerns, we didn’t have that,” Capt. Young said.

The department has been forced to be creative with the ways they keep school campuses safe. Often depending on students, parents, and staff.

They also turn to their law enforcement partners across Southern Nevada as they look for other ways to attract more police officers.

“We’re working with the current administration for the school district to look at possible new funding sources,” Capt. Young said. “We’re also looking into grants, federal grants that are out there that would assist us in getting more man power.”

Right now, CCSD PD is reviewing applications to fill four open positions.

All school police officers must be certified and undergo the same training as any other law enforcement officer.

According to school records, starting salary for a police officer without experience is about $50,000 a year.